10 on 10: Special 10/10/10 Edition!

Maddie and Sam playing "night night" on the living room floor

butternut squash, ready for a recipe

helping Dada collect seed pods

Dang it feels good to be a gangsta

little bunny Kayla

T & T workin' the stage

Maddie (aka Surfer Ty) joins the dance party

Gregg's not above breaking out the sprinkler, donning bunny ears

Ty breaking it down (photo by Kelly)

Suz with my little man (photo by Kelly)

Praise the Lord for good friends to pass a Sunday afternoon!

So, what DO you EAT?

Back in 2001 I was diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis. Almost immediately after being diagnosed I started on a diet that basically cuts all grains and sugars. When explaining the diet to people, I often hear "So, what DO you EAT?" People, this post is for you! Keep in mind that my main dietary staples are: fruit, vegetables, yogurt, cheese, nuts and meat. These are some of my favorite recipes right now.

A major element of the diet is homemade yogurt:

creamy, delicious, thick and rich!

And it couldn't be easier: heat milk to scalding (180 deg). Cool to 100 deg. Scoop out a bit of scalded milk and mix it with a yogurt starter (1/2 cup of plain yogurt or freeze-dried option). Mix starter/yogurt combo back into scalded milk. Pour in yogurt maker and leave for 24 hours. Store bought milk is not fermented this long, as it really only takes 5-6 hours, but in order to kill off the unfriendly microorganisms but keep the good ones, it must be fermented at least 24 hours. Interesting, huh?

This is a common sight after 8pm at my house:

Orange crushy deliciousness and PB.

1 cup freshly squeezed OJ, 1/2 cup yogurt, 1 cup ice, 1/2 TBS vanilla extract. Blend. All you need now is a straw and a spoon for the PB.

If you're feeling snacky, you can also make some awesome salty chip substitutes:

butternut squash chips

Peel long neck portion of squash. Run through your food processor using the smallest slicing blade (mine is 2mm). Fry in vegetable or coconut oil 1-2 minutes until crispy and golden brown.

For breakfast:

almond flour waffles

I'll post the recipe later. Suffice to say that with sauteed peaches (butter, cinnamon, and honey) and hot honey mixed with cinnamon acting as syrup, you hardly miss real waffles!

If you want something crisp, salty and altogether interesting:

crispy oven-baked kale with parmesan

Tear kale into bite-sized pieces. Toss with a little olive oil. Bake in a single layer at 350 16-20 minutes on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Sprinkle with salt and freshly grated parmesan. A cross between chips and crunchy nori. Oh my.

I tried this new recipe just this week:

Tacos! In a cheese shell!

Yep folks, that's a slice of provolone cheese, baked until crispy and then draped with paper towels over a broom handle (giving it the characteristic shell shape). Filled with meat, cheese, lettuce, tomato, avocado--taco perfection!

Becky & Mel Meet Bakerella!

Today was a great day in blogland. We got to meet the one and only Bakerella, maker of (Martha Stewart) famous cake pops! Mel informed me a few weeks back that a book signing was coming up, and so today we made the trek up to Walnut Creek to check it out.

Here we are waiting in line outside. Thankfully we were in the shade most of the time, and it wasn't a very hot day! We were numbers 33 and 34, and we're not exactly sure, but it looked like over 200 people showed up by the time everything got underway. Crazy, right?

We arrived a little early, waited in line for over a half hour, and then smooshed into the tiny space in Williams Sonoma to attend the Bakerella Q & A. Unfortunately, there were a few disgruntled folks and rabble rousers, so not only was it so hard to actually see but you could hardly hear!

Here's a little view of the line once we got inside the store. It was a pretty organized effort, but we still were there almost two hours, waiting in line most of the time. So glad I had a friend to chat with!

Here's Mel, meeting the cake pop queen herself. She was seriously so nice and so humble in person. When answering a question, she referred to herself as "not really even a baker." There were audible gasps. Bakerella is an artist when it comes to confectionary delights!

The self-promoting setup by the Q & A section of the store:

Here I am with Bakerella, aka Angie Dudley! Funny thing: I don't think I even exchanged any words with her. It was such a process getting up there, having your page opened to the correct place, sticky note with your name how you wanted it written attached to the opposite page, handing camera off to employee to snap photo, grabbing camera to snap own photos, receiving promo buttons from another employee...you get the picture. Whole lot of shuffling, not a lot of talking! Oh well.

And here's the two of us! Now we can't wait to get started on our own cake pops.

*shot with Mel's camera (sorry employee; I didn't get your name to give you props for the pics of us girls!)

Happy Baking!

Samuel: 19 Months

Hey There Sweet Cheeks,

So you survived another month as a toddler. Congratulations! It seems you are full of mischief these days, glancing my way to see if I happen to be watching before you go gallivanting off. You are funny and precocious, happy and laid-back, sneaky and charming. It is quite the combination.

You have basically two speeds these days: stop-and-smell-the-roses and warp speed/all-systems-go. I feel like I'm either dragging you along when we are in a hurry to get somewhere (school, church, basically everywhere these days because I can't seem to get three individual people fed and clothed and out the door), or I'm chasing you down some crazy, twisted path trying to get you to come back. You love the chase and will giggle, toss your head back and forth, and flail all limbs as you run squealing, away from safety.

Luckily for me, you are a cuddler of the highest order. You love kisses and hugs, loves and snuggles. Thank goodness for that! I can always count on some sweet loves from my boy, and you are so affectionate with your Daddy when he leaves for work or gets home at the end of a long day. You will even hug or kiss Maddie if she's not demanding or squeezing it from you. (We're working on that, brother, I promise).

You love to do all kinds of art and creative work. You will walk decidedly toward the laundry closet, open the doors, point at the art supplies and grunt until I acquiesce. If I let you, you would paint every day. Unfortunately, you love to paint furniture, toys and yourself much more than the art paper and poster board. Figures.

You are starting to do more and more "big kid" things, like picking up tools and using them appropriately (such as sweeping the walk, below). This morning I walked out of my room to find you had dragged the potty into the hall and were sitting, holding a newspaper in one hand and a wad of toilet paper in the other. I nearly died (and then subsequently wished I had a camera in my hand, but alas, no such luck). You love to sit on the potty (clothed), wipe your leg (of course) with toilet paper, and then flush the paper down the big toilet.

You love to throw and kick balls, toss a football, pick out rocks to throw off the bridge into the stream, knock things down, hammer with all kinds of objects, and generally weave a path of destruction wherever you go. Just today, in the split second between putting the blender jar on the counter and grabbing some frozen fruit from the freezer, you pulled the heavy glass jar off the counter and onto your foot. Thank goodness you walked away with nothing more than a superficial cut. You push little chairs and side tables all over the house, thus having access to just about every surface, nook and cranny available. I am constantly on my toes, finding things you can reach and putting them safely away, above my head.

Your obsession with all things wheeled continues strong. Today we spent the last of your birthday bookstore gift card (thanks, Grammy!) on a motorcycle book, with real spinning wheels. We read it before bedtime, then two other books. When I had turned out the light and finished singing songs, you grunted and groaned, reaching down for your book, all the while exclaiming "Brooooom! Brooom!" I grabbed your book and you snuggled right down in the crib, blankie in one hand, motorcycle in the other.

Words just can't describe what a joy you are: constantly laughing, smiling, easygoing and full of life. You bring a richness of love and new depths of fun to our family. Happy 19 Months, sweet Samuel. Your Mama loves you!

Love,

Mama

Fall is Here: Trip to the Pumpkin Patch

First of all, a retrospective:

Monday was a fun day for us. We headed to the pumpkin patch with a bunch of Maddie's classmates from the Yellow Room. We arrived shortly after Nicole and Kelly, much to the girls' delight. They are crazy about each other.

G & M Farms in Livermore is a great place to go! For only $6, we got a hay ride, lesson about the life cycle of a pumpkin, lots of fun activities including a corn box, petting farm and playground, not to mention a pumpkin, gourd and indian corn to take home!

Maddie is over 3 feet tall! ("But I'm almost four, Mama! Four!") No use explaining height versus age. She moved on quickly.

Kel snapped this great shot of me and the kiddos. I was not at all prepared for how cold it would be. Thankfully I packed a vest and sweater for the kids but we all could have used winter coats!

Sam scooping and dumping out in the corn box (like a sand box but with dried corn kernels; so much fun!)

Fun photo-op "cows" to climb on. Sam says, "Moooo!"

Maddie and her "enormous" pumpkin!

My two little pumpkins with their big ones!

Sabbath Adventures: Carmel

This past Friday, Ben and I had the pleasure of getting away overnight to a *positively delightful* little "cabbage" in Carmel. ("Cabbage" is Maddie's combination of cabin and cottage, though the place in which we stayed is far too nice to be called any of those things. It more like charming french countryside home meets beach bungalow. Some friends from church have let us stay at their place before, and it is SUCH a blessing.

After 24 hours away, we were missing our little bugs, and they arrived just in time with Tutu and Boppa in tow:

laughing at Boppa popping the kelp

enjoying the laughter

chasing seagulls

Saturday night we all went out to an early dinner at la bicyclette, one of our favorite restaurants in Carmel. The meal was awesome, and I was able to eat almost everything! Maddie wanted to wear a dress and kept asking about our "fancy" meal. She was quite the little lady, and even got to wear her clip-clop (read: heeled dress-up) shoes to dinner. After dinner we said goodbye to Tutu and Boppa and went back to our cozy little place. Maddie slept in the "princess room," so named for its glorious silk bedding, large pillows, luxurious curtains and lady portraits.

On Sunday we spent three hours exploring Point Lobos. We peeked in tide pools, played chase with the lapping waves, climbed rocks, and hiked trails.

On this little beach the waves would crash and recede so fast, carrying thousands of good-sized rocks with it, that the air was filled with the music of pebble on pebble, like an enormous rain stick, melodious and percussive.

Maddie astounded us with her abandon and sense of adventure, scaling large sandstone formations, bouldering, and getting just-so-close to the edge. Sam was happy just to throw rocks into the water, splash in little pools, and follow us around (or run away, depending on the minute).

Dada and Maddie on top of the rock they scaled.

a montage of the beautiful colors among the rocks

At the end of the road at Point Lobos, we took a quick jaunt toward Bird Island, dropping down to the most gorgeous white sand China Beach. There were caves to explore, egrets fishing among the floating kelp, and this cute little guy who kept popping his head up and watching us.

We also got to watch a sea otter playing in the waves at another beach!

At China Beach Ben snapped some great photos of me and the kids. This is my fave:

Here's a view of the South side of China Beach, where two little tunnels are carved in the rocks.

Back at the "cabbage," we played chase around the house, admiring all the delightful garden gnomes, dancing in the small playhouse, and spreading the family love.

And, wonder of wonders, we even got a fairly decent family shot:

Hooray for a three-day Sabbath Adventure! We needed it!

Goodbye Summer!

Nothing says summer celebration like a couple of popsicles!

Welcome, Fall! We're so glad you're here!